FJ62 KNOCKING AND WHINING (CV/ birfield, Alternator) (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Apr 27, 2021
Threads
4
Messages
24
Location
Anaheim
So recently my FJ62 has been making some new noises and wanted some opinons. I have ideas on what it could be after some research but am not sure.

1st Noise: On occasion when turning my wheels to the right side when reversing and sometimes going forward it will make one knocking noise, it almost sounds as if it is catching then releasing on something as I turn. From what I was seeing the possible issues would be no grease in the front knuckle OR the birfield/ CV joint could be going out. My question would be how do I check to see what one of those issues is more likely the issue.

2nd Noise: When driving for a while and truck being at operating temp I notice going up hills mainly or sometimes on more flat roads I can hear a fairly distinct whine coming from the engine ONLY when pressing on the accelerator. Once I stop accelerating the noise stops, started notice when driving up to the mountains and made me a little nervous to take it out to the trail. I saw someone mention possible loose belts or failing alternator. I tried to look up how to check tension on belts but nothing came up for V belts only serpentine from what I saw.

I really want to take my truck out soon but don't want to until I fully understand what these issues could be and how to go about fixing them. Thank you everyone for the help!
 
If the noise you hear up front and down low on one side sounds like a “clunk” when turning the wheels, it may just be a leaf shifting in the leaf spring pack.
If that’s the case, saturating the spring pack with a water (from a hose) will usually make the sound more frequent and more annoying.

Spray the leaf pack with some water then drive it - if the sound is worse, then that’s what’s going on. Nothing to worry about (if that’s what it is).
 
If the noise you hear up front and down low on one side sounds like a “clunk” when turning the wheels, it may just be a leaf shifting in the leaf spring pack.
If that’s the case, saturating the spring pack with a water (from a hose) will usually make the sound more frequent and more annoying.

Spray the leaf pack with some water then drive it - if the sound is worse, then that’s what’s going on. Nothing to worry about (if that’s what it is).
I will try that and see what happens.
 
If you unlock the front hubs, the birfield joints will not spin while driving, and shouldn't make any noise.

Is it a "whining" sound, or a roaring sound? The fan can get quite loud when it engages, and sound a bit whiny at higher RPM. Failing alternators usually make a very high pitched whine, like a violin string.
 
If you unlock the front hubs, the birfield joints will not spin while driving, and shouldn't make any noise.

Is it a "whining" sound, or a roaring sound? The fan can get quite loud when it engages, and sound a bit whiny at higher RPM. Failing alternators usually make a very high pitched whine, like a violin string.
I don't believe it is a roaring noise of a fan. If it were the alternator would it make the high pitched whine all the time? or if its just starting to go bad would it be periodically at higher RPM. I will see if I can listen closer to the noise today and report back. I also wasn"t aware the birfield would be disengaged with hubs being free. So if thats accurate then its a bit of a confidence booster for the other option mentioned.
 
If the noise you hear up front and down low on one side sounds like a “clunk” when turning the wheels, it may just be a leaf shifting in the leaf spring pack.
If that’s the case, saturating the spring pack with a water (from a hose) will usually make the sound more frequent and more annoying.

Spray the leaf pack with some water then drive it - if the sound is worse, then that’s what’s going on. Nothing to worry about (if that’s what it is).
I sprayed the leafs with water and it did end up making more noise and the same feeling I was getting, so super happy about that outcome. I hope thats all it ends up being. Thank you for the help!
 
I had a knock in my front end for a long time. Typically while turning and was really bad on trails. I could not track it down until I had my truck at the shop the other day getting a few things done and gave my mechanic the FSM page that showed where the grease points were. He called and told me that two of my grease fittings/zerks were not accepting grease. He switched them out and one of them was on the shaft that goes from steering wheel to power steering pump. After it accepted grease you could see some rust ooze out with the fresh grease. Steering bump totally gone. Gonna make sure it gets greased with each oil change now. There are 9 spots to grease with the addition of a screw pug on each steering knuckle that can be removed and repacked with Lubricant (I have yet to do those).
 
I had a knock in my front end for a long time. Typically while turning and was really bad on trails. I could not track it down until I had my truck at the shop the other day getting a few things done and gave my mechanic the FSM page that showed where the grease points were. He called and told me that two of my grease fittings/zerks were not accepting grease. He switched them out and one of them was on the shaft that goes from steering wheel to power steering pump. After it accepted grease you could see some rust ooze out with the fresh grease. Steering bump totally gone. Gonna make sure it gets greased with each oil change now. There are 9 spots to grease with the addition of a screw pug on each steering knuckle that can be removed and repacked with Lubricant (I have yet to do those).
Thank you that's really good to know, I think I might take my cruiser into my local Toyota dealership for fluid changes since I don't want to deal with getting rid of it all, since most places only take oil. Ill have them check those at the same time.
 
If you unlock the front hubs, the birfield joints will not spin while driving, and shouldn't make any noise.

Is it a "whining" sound, or a roaring sound? The fan can get quite loud when it engages, and sound a bit whiny at higher RPM. Failing alternators usually make a very high pitched whine, like a violin string.
So I recently went back up to the mountains, and on the drive up was able to hear the whining noise again. It is definitely not a roaring noise like a fan, all of my belts seem to be pretty tight and in spec. My only thought now is the alternator is going out since it only makes noise when on the accelerator, and going up hill which equals slower but still higher RPMs. Also had issues with engine heating up to much so going to try and figure that out as well.
 
Are you sure your fan belt isn't loose? It also does the alternator. The belt should have very little free movement if its properly tensioned.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom